Kyle Busch tops CoT Atlanta test
On his debut at the wheel of a Joe Gibbs Racing car, Kyle Busch topped the first day of Car of Tomorrow testing for the Nextel Cup teams at Atlanta Motor Speedway
Busch was one of several drivers making their first outings with their 2008 teams, and he stole some of the limelight from Dale Earnhardt Jr's maiden run in a Hendrick car by setting the fastest lap of the day during the morning session.
The younger of the Busch brothers set a fastest lap of 29.776 seconds at an average speed of 186.190 mph, driving the No. 18 Chevrolet Impala SS. Joe Gibbs Racing will switch to Toyota next year but they won't run a Camry until the current season is over.
Today's test is the first official one with the Car of Tomorrow in a 1.5-mile oval, as teams get ready for running it full-time during the 2008 season. The car has already been raced this season at short tracks, superspeedways and road courses but had yet to be run by teams on intermediate tracks such as Atlanta.
"This test is more for the benefit of the teams," said Nextel Cup Series director John Darby. "Since the birth of the car, if you will, at Bristol this spring, these types of tests are more to track-tune the cars just the same as they have with NASCAR race cars all through the years.
"I think that shows in the fact there are no changes here. There are no splitter adjustments or wicker adjustments or any of those types of things. This is more of an actual team test for all of the teams to bring their race cars here and get the most performance that they can out of them."
JGR drivers actually dominated the day with Denny Hamlin setting the second fastest speed of the day at 185.822 mph, running half a tenth of a second off from the benchmark set by his new teammate. He was also second fastest in the afternoon, when speeds were not as quick as in the morning.
David Reutimann was third fastest with his morning time, setting the benchmark among the Toyota drivers, while Greg Biffle set the pace for the Ford runners on his Roush Racing Fusion, topping the afternoon session with a time nearly two tenths off from the morning's best.
Kurt Busch was quickest of the Dodge's with a time nearly four tenths slower than what his brother managed, setting it also during the morning session.
The day also provided the opportunity for Dario Franchitti to sample a Nextel Cup car for the first time. He drove the No. 40 Target House Ganassi Dodge finishing the day with a lap of 30.642 seconds, around eight tenths off from Kyle Busch.
Franchitti was fastest of the newcomers for 2008, edging fellow rookies Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Carpentier.
The former Formula One champion was a thousandth of a second off from the Scot in the No. 27 Bill Davis Racing Toyota, while Carpentier was nearly eight hundredths of a second slower in the No. 10 Gillett Evernham Dodge.
Although most of the Nextel Cup regulars took part of the test, neither Jeff Gordon, nor Jimmie Johnson tested today.
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